


Beat Rock Love: Rock into Danger

by lucybeetle



Series: Beat Rock Love [8]
Category: Kamen Rider Ghost
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Crack, F/M, M/M, Sexual Harassment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 17:35:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7583449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucybeetle/pseuds/lucybeetle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Makoto wishes Alan would talk to him. Adel seizes his chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beat Rock Love: Rock into Danger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [guava](https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/gifts).



> Once again, for guava. Thank you for keeping me going throughout the fic. I can't believe it's grown this much! This chapter was particularly stubborn and didn't want to be written. I wouldn't have got there without your help. Also, some crossover here with Kamen Rider Amazons, which is guava's current fave and thus had to be included.
> 
>  **Warning** for sexual harassment, sexual obsession, general creepiness, and ... non-consensual use of someone's image for sexual purposes? That's the best descriptor I could think of.

Makoto spent an uncomfortable night without Alan.

He missed snuggling up to Alan, feeling Alan’s soft hair tickle against him, hearing Alan’s little snores. Without his boyfriend’s warm body next to him, it was difficult to sleep, and Makoto couldn’t get their argument out of their mind. He didn’t know _why_ such a trivial fight had escalated so quickly. All Makoto had done was point out that it was hardly fair of Alan to get jealous with Javert around; then, Alan had suddenly kicked him out of the car and decided to end their relationship. Why was that? Alan was dramatic, but he usually calmed down within a couple of hours. Something had definitely happened, most likely involving Adel and/or Javert, yet Makoto knew there wasn’t really much he could do about it. Alan was free to do what he liked. If he believed his lying sleazy brother or if he wanted to date a neurotic accountant with questionable facial hair, that was entirely Alan’s choice. Makoto would just have to respect it and move on. That wasn’t easy, when the pillows still smelt like Alan and Makoto had one of Alan’s cardigans to hold. He’d found it in the laundry basket after Alia had stopped by. At some point, he thought he should probably return it; but Alan had other clothes to wear and Makoto missed him painfully. Maybe in a couple of days Alan would cool down and he’d come back. For now, though, trying to sleep without him there was near-unbearable.

By 6am, Makoto knew he was never going to get any sleep, so he went jogging. Kanon was still asleep when he got back. He had a shower, changed his clothes, and went out again. At some point he and Takeru would have to work out what to do about ATM; which would likely involve cancelling the tour and single release. _That_ was going to be a headache. Makoto didn’t even want to think about what Adonis was going to say, especially if it went to court.

He was waiting in the garage to have his bike serviced, when Takeru called. Makoto stepped outside to answer it.

“Makoto-nii-chan.” Takeru’s voice was thick, and cracked as he spoke. He was evidently upset.

“Are you OK?” Makoto felt instantly guilty. It was only natural that Takeru would be very hurt by the impending breakup of ATM. All he’d wanted was to make music with his friends again, and now Makoto had ruined it for him, “I’m sorry, Takeru. Alan and I had an argument, and then he –”

“Can you come over? I really need to speak to you,” said Takeru.

Makoto took a deep breath. He _wanted_ to see Takeru, but he couldn’t face a conversation about this now. He was still too upset about losing Alan; and watching Takeru in distress would make things worse. There was nothing they could really do at this stage anyway. Adonis was their manager, and without his and Alan’s input, Takeru and Makoto couldn’t make any decisions about the tour or the future of ATM.

“I can’t right now. I have stuff to do, and – and Kanon needs me. She’s upset,” said Makoto.

“ _Kanon_!” There was panic in Takeru’s tone, and Makoto jolted. “Did something happen? Is she all right?”

“She’s going to be fine. She’s just stressed out. She’s upset that Alan left, and I think she’s having guy trouble,” said Makoto.

“Did she say anything?”

Takeru was definitely behaving strangely. Makoto said “Takeru – do _you_ know anything about this?”

“No.” There was silence for several moments, then Takeru said “I care about her, that’s all. I don’t want her to be hurt.”

“I know. Sorry.” Makoto felt bad for questioning it. Takeru had always been close to Kanon, as he had to Makoto; and he’d risked his own life to give her a kidney at a time when Makoto wasn’t well enough to donate his own. She and Makoto both owed Takeru a huge debt.

“I do need to speak to you, though. Can you come over?”

“I’ll come later. Or tomorrow. I just – can’t, right now. I need some time to think,” said Makoto.

“I understand.” Takeru sighed, and then said “Alan was pretty upset when he called me.”

“You’re lucky he did. He won’t answer any of _my_ calls.”

“I could talk to you for him,” suggested Takeru.

“Thanks, Takeru. I think I should leave him alone for a while,” said Makoto. “If Adonis doesn’t call us about the tour, I’ll come over tomorrow. I promise.”

***

Makoto spent the rest of the day on various errands and taking some time to go to the gym. Without ATM, he was pretty much unemployed, and was going to need to find a job soon - probably as a shop assistant or security guard or something until he could get back into racing. _If_ he could. For now, though, he wasn’t able to think about any of that. He was simply distracting himself until Alan or Adonis got in touch. Then they would have to discuss all the practicalities, such as cancelling ATM’s tour and Alan paying for the notice he had failed to give as a co-tenant of the apartment.

Makoto thought he might as well make sure that his sister would eat properly that day, something she tended to neglect when she was going through a rough time. He went around a convenience store and was putting together the ingredients to cook Kanon a nice dinner, when his phone rang. Makoto’s heart jumped when he heard the familiar tones; but it wasn’t Alan. He did not recognise the number. He _did_ recognise the voice.

“Hey.”

“How did you get my number?” said Makoto. Even now, he trusted that Alan wouldn’t have shared it. Given Adel’s criminal connections and enormous wealth, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that he’d bugged Makoto’s phone; but, all the same, being contacted by him wasn’t pleasant.

“Sorry to hear about you and my brother,” said Adel.

Makoto didn’t even bother trying to dignify that with an answer. He knew Adel wasn’t remotely sorry, “What do you want?”

“All right, let’s cut to the chase. You know who Amazonz are? And that I manage them?” said Adel.

“Yeah.”

Makoto had heard bits and pieces of the story in the press and through Alan. Adel, like his father, managed musical acts and Amazonz were a duo that he’d signed up the previous year. He’d been pushing them hard performing in clubs. They’d written a song called “Violent Wild Punish”, which Makoto thought sounded like a porn movie, but the song had gained them some much-needed attention. They’d been preparing to release it as a single; then one of the two members had abruptly quit, and nothing more had been announced about Amazonz’ future. It seemed fishy to Makoto that Adel would just let the guy leave rather than using an army of expensive lawyers to trap him via a contract.

“Technically, I just manage Takayama Jin. He’s the only one left now,” said Adel. “Anyway the other guy was Haruka, and he quit – so there’s a vacancy. I want you to fill it.”

“I can’t,” said Makoto, without pausing for breath.

“Why not? You’re out of a job, aren’t you?”

Makoto didn’t answer.

“Maybe we shouldn’t discuss this over the phone. Why don’t we go to lunch?” said Adel.

“Are you serious?” said Makoto. He’d had the “pleasure” of eating with Adel only the day before, and wasn’t keen to repeat the experience.

“Don’t worry. It’s a business lunch. My brother isn’t going to get jealous.”

“Goodbye, Adel,” said Makoto. His voice didn’t waver, but his tone didn’t come out quite as firmly as he would have liked it to, either.

 “Face it. Things are gonna be tough for you without Alan there to pay the rent,” said Adel. “How about Starbucks?”

Reluctantly, Makoto agreed to meet Adel for coffee; in a busy little shop at a nearby shopping centre. Alan didn’t visit there (preferring to go to whatever “artisan” shop that Instagram had told him was cool this week) and Makoto didn’t think anyone he knew would recognise him. When he arrived, Adel was already sitting at a table, sipping a macchiato.

“You look pretty good for someone who’s just been through a tragic breakup,” said Adel. “Coffee?”

“Get on with it,” said Makoto.

“That’s my offer. You join Amazonz and replace Haruka. We re-record Violent Wild Punish, we release it as a single, they eat it up.”

“And I’ll have to perform in crappy clubs every night,” said Makoto.

“Jin and Haruka already did that. Now we actually have something to work with,” said Adel.

“How do you know this song is going to be such a hit?”

“We’ve had some very interesting offers already … and you can sing. Haruka can’t.”

“I’m not a musician. I was only in ATM because of Takeru,” said Makoto.

“Is that what you want? You want to be in an idol group, competing with guys fifteen years younger than you, appearing in ridiculous videos and singing songs about how beautiful Alan thinks he is? I mean, come on, ‘Poutylicious.’” Adel’s nose wrinkled, “It’s beyond parody. The only reason my father was going to let you release it as a single was because he thinks it _is_ a parody.”

“Give Alan a break. It’s not a bad song,” said Makoto. It wasn’t a good song, either; but Makoto knew that it meant a lot to Alan. He did not like hearing Adel make fun of that.

Adel looked directly at Makoto and said “You’re still in love with my brother, aren’t you?”

Makoto thought this a ridiculous question. He and Alan had broken up only a day ago and it was Alan who had dumped Makoto; not the other way around. “I said. I don’t want to work for you.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Makoto got up from the table. He had almost reached the doorway when Adel called out “So, what are you going to do now, Makoto?”

The split second of hesitation was brief, and yet Makoto knew he’d already lost this battle. He couldn’t help it. He _didn’t_ know what he was going to do, without the tour, without his job with ATM, with one fewer person sharing the rent. He returned to the table, sitting as far away from Adel as he could, not making eye contact.

“You need to make some money. You’re going to have to refund everyone who paid for tickets – OK, even _you_ can afford that.” Adel laughed. “But you’ll owe cash for everything you hired and wages for all your staff. Father and Alan won’t pay a damn thing. You and Takeru will be picking up the bill and let’s face it, you’re not doing very well, are you?”

Makoto said, “How am I going to get paid?”

“You’ll be on contract of course, like Jin. Except I’ll give you more than him because I already know you’re not going to dick me around and be late for rehearsals.”

That wasn’t much of an answer, but Makoto thought he might have to take it; at least for now. He needed some way to pay the bills. Asides of which, Makoto knew what Takayama Jin looked like. Alan had him friended on Facebook. Takayama was in his forties and had a beard – not unlike Javert. Well, if Alan could go after an older guy with facial hair, why couldn’t Makoto? It might make Alan come to his senses. Makoto had no intention of anything happening but, all the same, he secretly relished the idea of Alan getting a little jealous when he found out that Makoto would be working with Takayama.

“What do you want me to do?” said Makoto.

“I’m working at Ganmaizer tonight. Why don’t you come over?” said Adel. Ganmaizer was a bar he owned; presumably some kind of pun on the family name, de Ganma, although Makoto didn’t catch the reference. “I’ll invite Jin, and we can have drinks and discuss some business.”

Makoto had never been to Ganmaizer, but thought he could find it easily enough, “I’m not drinking at the moment.”

Adel’s expression betrayed only the faintest hint of polite irritation, “Pepsi then, whatever you like. Just be there. Shall we say nine?”

***

Ganmaizer was one of those places that was all tiled floors, gilt décor and walls covered with mirrors. Makoto wished he’d brought sunglasses. He wondered if Adel had bought the place not just as a source of income, but an experiment to see how much sensory assault he could subject the patrons to before they snapped.

It took Makoto several minutes to convince a vast security guard that he was supposed to be visiting Adel; but he was finally led up an endless series of stairs to Adel’s office on the top floor. When Makoto arrived, Adel and Takayama were already sitting on the plush sofa together, having a glass of something that looked expensive even to Makoto’s untrained eye.

“Makoto! You made it.” Adel clapped Makoto on the shoulder. Makoto cringed but allowed himself to be led over to the sofa

“Who the hell is this?” said Takayama, looking at Makoto as if Makoto were there to perform a tax audit followed by a root canal.

“This is Makoto. You’ll be working with him from now on,” said Adel.

“Oh, God.” Takayama downed the remaining contents of his glass in one gulp and said “I need another drink.”

“You can do that later. We’ll be going out to celebrate once Makoto signs his contract,” said Adel.

Makoto opened his mouth to argue, because there was no _way_ he was signing anything Adel gave him before getting legal advice. It was unlikely he’d be able to afford a lawyer now, without Alan around, but Makoto still wasn’t going to sign right off the bat. Before Makoto could say anything, Jin interrupted “Wait, wait, wait. He’s not signing anything until Nanaha says.”

“Who’s Nanaha?” asked Makoto.

“My agent,” said Takayama. “She’ll be along in a minute.”

“I thought Adel was your agent,” said Makoto.

“No, no,” said Adel, with a smile, “I am Jin’s _manager_. Nanaha-chan is his agent. You have a lot to learn about this business, don’t you? Things my brother and father won’t teach you.”

It was taking all Makoto’s willpower not to just get up and walk out of the door. He didn’t care about learning anything from Adel nor even from Adonis. As much as he hoped for ATM to become a success, all Makoto had really ever wanted was to make music with two of the three people who were most important to him in the world: Takeru, and Alan.

Adel’s phone rang, and he stepped outside to answer it. Within a few moments he had returned; accompanied by a young woman. She was attractive but had nowhere near enough fake hair, nails or eyelashes to be one of Adel’s girlfriends, so Makoto surmised that she was probably Nanaha.

“Makoto, this is Nanaha-chan, Jin’s agent. Nanaha, this is Makoto,” said Adel.

“Hello.” Nanaha looked Makoto up and down and then said, “I don’t think it’s going to work, Adel.”

“Why not? _I_ think he and Jin will make a great team.”

Makoto glanced over at Takayama, who was still glugging neat whiskey, sitting with his face in his hands. It would take a near-miracle for them to make any kind of team, let alone a great one.

“Jin and Haruka worked because Haruka was shorter. And younger. They had a nice visual contrast going on. It looks good. It sells. Basically, they’re a classic twink and ossan combo,” said Nanaha.

“Who’re you callin’ an ossan?” Jin spluttered and spat out some of his drink. Makoto dodged, “I’m not _that_ much older than you!”

Nanaha ignored him. “It’s not happening.”

“Of course it will. Makoto has actual talent. We had to autotune the hell out of Haruka to get anything more coherent than ‘Gwaaaaaargh’ out of him,” said Adel. “It would be nice to have a singer who can really sing, don’t you think?”

“So get a singer. They’re ten a penny. We can easily find someone who has a cute face and can hold a tune.”

“We _could_ , but I’m putting up the money. So if I say I want Makoto to replace Haruka, you’re going to have to give me a much more convincing reason than that.” Adel smiled at her, in a not at all attractive or friendly way, “You know, you’ll have to sign Jin over to me at some point. What do you say we get my lawyers to draw up a contract?”

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?” said Nanaha. “I said. As long as Jin’s working for you, he goes through me. That was the deal.”

“What deal? It’s not worth the paper it wasn’t written on. This business is a big pond, and you’re not even a small fish. You barely count as plankton.” Adel took a step towards her, “I think you should reconsider your position. Otherwise … who knows what might happen?”

Nanaha reached into her pocket and withdrew a deadly weapon with a razor-sharp spike sticking out of it, “Stay away from me. Or else.”

“What’s that?” shrieked Makoto. It looked like some kind of medieval torture device.

Nanaha gave him a strange look, “Lipstick, obviously. Christian Louboutin.”

This was the second time in as many days that Makoto had heard a woman making a threat on Adel’s life. Anyone else might have got the message that, if others regularly had to threaten him with lethal violence, maybe he should change the way he spoke to them.

“We’re leaving,” said Nanaha. “Jin. Get up.”

“What?” Jin looked up from his glass.

“We’re leaving. Get. UP.” Nanaha hoisted him out of his seat, practically dragging him to the doorway; and then the two were gone.

“Good going,” said Makoto. “Think you’ve just lost the other half of your band.”

Adel waved his hand, “I can buy Takayama back. He knows which side his bread’s buttered. Anyway, I wanted to talk to _you_.”

“You were going to talk to both of us. About me joining Amazonz,” said Makoto.

“Yeah, I was … but let’s forget about that for now. How are things? What about your sister?”

“She’s fine,” said Makoto.

“I bet she misses my brother. She always got along with him very well,” said Adel. Makoto didn’t respond to that one. Adel tried again, “I don’t know why you feel you can’t talk to me. We’re friends, aren’t we? We used to be very close.”

“We weren’t friends. You were my senpai. That’s different,” said Makoto. ‘Senpai’ was putting it politely. Adel’s influence had almost got Makoto into some very real trouble.

 “If I’m your senpai, that means it’s my duty to look out for you. Right?”

Adel put his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and reached up with the other hand to brush a piece of hair away from Makoto’s face. Makoto froze, the sense memory of Alan having affectionately done this many times holding him in place; then he moved out of Adel’s reach, “That’s enough.”

“My brother isn’t going to care about this, you know,” said Adel. “He’s too busy feeling sorry for himself.”

“I said. Stay away from me.” Makoto glanced towards the doorway, warily calculating the distance he’d have to cover to get away from Adel and back into the crowded bar.

Adel laughed, “You’re really paranoid, aren’t you? Did Alan ever tell you he loved you or was he too busy admiring himself?”

“I’m getting out of here,” said Makoto. “Goodbye.”

He turned around and headed towards the doorway; not running, but pacing quickly without looking back. He felt someone grab his shoulders and then suddenly Adel was pressing him up against the wall, grabbing onto him, holding him in place, trying to kiss him.

Makoto shoved at Adel, trying to break Adel’s grip, “Stop it! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You’re so hard to win over.” Adel was smiling, now. He leaned in so close that his forehead was touching Makoto’s, “I understand why Alan likes you so much.”

“Get away from me!”

“Are you sure about that? You don’t have to be shy. We know each other very well, don’t we?”

Adel traced the fingers of one hand very lightly down Makoto’s side before moving to undo Makoto’s zip. Makoto pushed at him again, wrenching at Adel’s fingers, trying to break their grip. He shoved frantically, and Adel stumbled backwards with a little gasp of pain. After a moment he stood up; composing himself, straightening his clothes. He spoke calmly, though the smile behind his eyes was no longer there. “OK, I get it. Maybe not now. You’re not thinking straight. Why don’t you go home? Call me tomorrow and we’ll talk about Amazonz.”

“I don’t want to join Amazonz! I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” Makoto shouted.

He could feel the blood pounding in his ears. He was ready for a fight, but Adel didn’t rise to the occasion, “Goodnight, Makoto. Call me tomorrow. Perhaps it’s not a good idea for you to ride your bike home. If you need a taxi, please ask one of my staff at the bar.”

Makoto didn’t want a taxi, although he agreed with one thing: he was too angry to ride home. He walked, feeling that he needed the exercise. Kanon had already gone to bed by the time he got home, and he spent another lonely night without Alan. He wondered if Alan knew or even cared that his brother had made a play for Makoto. He was still hoping that Alan was just in a bad mood and would calm down soon; but Alan didn’t hold grudges. This wasn’t like him. He still wasn’t taking Makoto’s calls and neither he nor his father had been in touch about the future of ATM.

***

After thinking it over, Makoto decided the next day that he would pay another visit to Adel. He had to make it clear, very clear, that he had no intention of either signing with Amazonz or having any further contact with Adel. Any more phone calls or texts would just encourage Adel to drag out his games further. Makoto planned to go over to Ganmaizer and see Adel in his office around lunch time; Adel shouldn’t have started drinking (too much) by then and going in daylight was probably safer.

The bar was fairly quiet when Makoto arrived, with a few patrons sipping drinks or watching one of the large flat-screen TVs. He spoke to the same security guard, who allowed him into the back stairway and up to Adel’s office; but, when Makoto got there, it was empty. He was a little confused. Surely he wouldn’t have been allowed to go to Adel’s office unless Adel were there? Maybe Adel had gone out to have lunch or gone to see someone else. Makoto decided to wait for five or ten minutes and then leave if Adel didn’t come back.

As he sat on the sofa, he felt a niggling temptation to start looking around. He glanced upwards, looking for security cameras. Knowing Adel as he did, Makoto was willing to bet that those cameras would not be checked often. Adel’s “business discussions” weren’t always pleasant little chats about the future of a music group; and having them fully recorded would probably not be to his benefit if the authorities were to start asking questions. After a moment, Makoto began searching through the shelves and drawers, glancing quickly over any paperwork he found. None of it looked too important. Anything like that was most likely kept in encrypted digital form, or locked in the safe. Now that Makoto thought about it, he wasn’t sure what he was actually looking for. He wasn’t a thief and he already knew as much as he needed or wanted to know about Adel’s business practices. On the other hand, he _was_ interested in Adel’s plans for Amazonz. If Adel was so invested in them, why hadn’t they had a proper contract? Why hadn’t he taken steps to stop Haruka leaving? Had he planned all along for Makoto to replace Haruka? Makoto was curious, and he’d just begun browsing through a filing cabinet when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

He froze in place, and quickly shut the filing cabinet, trying not to make a sound. He’d wanted to _speak_ to Adel, certainly, but Adel might not take kindly to coming in and finding Makoto here alone. What if he’d been watching the security feed and knew Makoto was snooping? Makoto quickly stepped behind one of the curtains, a split second before Adel came into the room.

Adel looked around, took off his coat and sat down. He took a few sips of a bottled drink from his bag and sat for a while, checking messages on his phone. Makoto reached into his pocket, trying not to rustle the curtains, and switched his own phone off lest Adel try to call him. Adel got up and went across the room to open a cupboard. He took out something large enough that it required both arms; and carried it across to the sofa. At first Makoto couldn’t see what it was, but when Adel laid it back against the cushions, Makoto caught sight of its pale, placid face. It – _he_ – had shiny dark hair in a bowl cut, fringe obscuring the features carved into what could so easily have been real skin. Makoto was pretty sure it wasn’t, but that was only because there was no way a corpse would keep very long inside this office.

“Makoto.”

Makoto’s breath caught in his throat. He was just about to step out from behind the curtains when he realised that Adel was addressing the dummy, the doll, whatever it might have been. He was unable to look away as Adel stroked its face, kissed it lovingly, murmured to it; and then began to unfasten its clothing. The sight made Makoto so nauseous he thought he might actually be sick there and then. He thought he might _have_ to come out from behind the curtain whether he wanted to or not but then, thankfully, Adel’s phone rang.

“Hello? Yes, I left it for you. It should have been at the … What do you mean, you didn’t …” Adel’s voice rose in pitch and he stomped outside into the hallway. Makoto crept very cautiously out of his hiding place and over to the sofa. The doll did look like him. Adel must have paid for it, had it custom-made. How long had he had it? Had he been doing this the whole time Makoto was with Alan? Makoto glanced over at the doorway then, very quickly, took out his phone to get a shot of the doll. Despite his already low opinion of Adel he still couldn’t quite believe Adel would do something like this. Makoto had half a mind to go to the police, although he knew he wouldn’t. There was nothing they could do about it anyway.

Adel hadn’t returned, so Makoto crept over to the door. There was no sign of Adel, either in the hallway or on the fire escape opposite. Makoto took his chance. He bolted for the fire escape and down the steps, taking the chance that the door at the bottom wouldn’t be locked. Sure enough, it wasn’t. Adel was the type who would make sure he always passed health and safety inspections so that no one would start to take a closer look at his business.

Makoto ran down the road, trying to get out of sight of the bar as quickly as possible, lest Adel be following or someone have told him that Makoto had been asking for him. Makoto’s legs were shaking and his heart was racing so much that he didn’t trust himself on his bike. He caught a bus instead. Rather than going home, he waited until they neared the waterfront and then got off the bus. The waterfront where he’d spent so much time with Alan.

He wasn’t quite sure what was going on. He certainly didn’t like it, but whatever he did next he would not be able to do it without Alan back at his side. With seemingly no logical course of action presenting itself, he had no other choice than to listen to his heart. A heart that was telling him loud and clear: he needed Alan.


End file.
